Governments around the world began trying to bring the Internet under control as soon as they realized the danger to their power represented by unfettered public access to, and exchange of, information. From attempts to suppress strong encryption technology to the Communications Decency Act in the US and China’s “Great Firewall,” such efforts have generally proven ineffectual. But things are changing, and not for the better.
Tag: evolution
Michael Boldin: Revolutionary Decentralization and the Tenth Amendment (2h18m)
This episode features an interview of Tenth Amendment Center founder Michael Boldin from 2018 by Thaddeus Russell, host of the Unregistered podcast. Raised in a family of Christian conservative activists, Michael Boldin took a very different path. In 2006 he founded the Tenth Amendment Center, which has promoted the efforts of states and municipalities to block the enforcement of federal laws.
Some Men Just Want to Watch Mexico Burn
If you share this romantic vision, you might even welcome my analysis: “Yes, I’m inspired by revolutionary idealism. At least they tried.” Yet calmly considered, this romantic vision is inexcusable. Launching a bloody war without even asking, “How likely is this war to improve the world?” is as “romantic” as drunk driving at a playground. Giving revolutionaries credit for “trying” is ridiculous. If you combine brutality with wishful thinking about the consequences, your real goal isn’t to make those consequences a reality. Your real goal is just to exercise brutality.
Mandatory National Service: “Strengthening American Democracy” by Ignoring Americans’ Rights
The state has no legitimate power to take your life, or any portion of it, from you, nor any legitimate power to force you to serve its goals rather than seeking after your own happiness. “Mandatory national service” is slavery, full stop. It’s a moral abomination with no conceivable justification in anything resembling a free society, and under the US Constitution in particular it is clearly and unambiguously illegal.
Peter Gray: The Promise of Play (1h11m)
This episode features a lecture by evolutionary psychologist, research professor, and author Peter Gray from 2018 on the importance and benefits of play in the lives of children and human beings.
Who Owns You?
The problem is not this or that regulation. Nor is the problem even the FDA itself. The root problem is the government’s claim to jurisdiction over so-called “public health.” The ultimate question is: who owns you? The answer will determine who is to be in charge of health.
Technological Unemployment: A Self-Test
Normal people worry about technological unemployment. Economists keep telling them to relax, but to little avail. You can’t trust a coven of eggheads, can you? Rather than rehash the textbook arguments, let me propose an easy way for the public to test its own understanding.
We Wanted Tech
“We wanted workers, but we got people instead.” This line from Max Frisch didn’t just give George Borjas the title of his most recent book. At last Friday’s immigration conference in St. Cloud, Borjas declared it his all-time favorite immigration epiphany. The point, he explained, is that immigrants aren’t just machines that produce stuff; they have broad social effects on our culture, politics, budget, and beyond.
A One-Page Hop from Bleeding Heart to Mailed Fist
“Drastic measures are needed to fight delinquency. First, I’d give a juvenile delinquent good advice. Second, if that didn’t help, I’d suggest going to the work farms, along with study. That way I’d gradually try to perfect the individual’s feelings and conscience. And finally, if the first two measures brought no improvement, I’d send him before the firing squad.”
Why I’m Optimistic About Venezuela
If you’re too young to remember the collapse of Communism, this is a tiny taste of the sweetness of 1988-1991. When’s the last time you had reasonable hope of dramatic peaceful pro-freedom change in the world?